The Philadelphia Honey Festival at Wyck is our sweet finish to the summer season and offers a variety of activities that celebrate and educate about our important friend, the honey bee! This always-popular event includes honey tastings, extractions, presentations, bee-bearding, mead making and tasting, and much more! Now in its 9th year, the Philadelphia Honey Festival spans three days, beginning on Friday evening, September 7, at the Glen Foerd on the Delaware, then Saturday at Wyck, and finally Sunday at Bartram’s Garden! #phillyhoneyfest

Scheduled Programs:

10:30 am Open Hive Talk Take a peek into a real live beehive; a real live beekeeper will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about honey bees

11:00 am – 3:00pmChildren’s Activities with Colleen Hudson, Wyck’s Camp Manager (in the shady area under the trees, near the Coach House)

11:00 am – 3:00pm Apple Cider Pressing! Help us press some apples and taste the sweet cider results (located near the Home Farm).12:00 noon Honey Extraction How Do You Get the Honey Away From the Bees? Watch as honey is taken from the honey comb and take a taste! (Education Shed)

12 noon – 3:00pm Living with a Garden in the 18th Century Come meet Ruth Fletcher, an 18th-century gardening enthusiast on the beautiful grounds of Wyck House. Learn to enjoy & make practical use of your garden. She will share her love of flowers and plants, and discuss their uses in decoration, cooking and medicine. She will especially focus on the multiple uses of the versatile Lavender plant (near Ice House).

12:30 pm Open Hive Talk What’s Going On In There? Join us at the bee hives by the greenhouses to watch and learn from the beekeeper.

1:30 pm Honey Extraction See how the honey goes from the honey comb to the jar through the “magic” of centrifugal force (Education shed)

3:00pm The Savory Side of Sweet Chef Greg Funk will demonstrate how to prepare some delicious and historic Wyck recipes! (Education Shed)

3:30 pm Open Hive Talk – Get up close and personal, if you dare! Watch and ask questions, as a beekeeper “works the bees”

Speaker Schedule(all lectures will take place by the Coach House):

11:00 am The Plague of the Spotted Lantern Fly by Kirk Wattles, Street Tree Maintenance Div., City of Philadelphia

11:15 am Healthy City – Urban Habitat by Helena vanVliet(American Institute of Architects, BioPhilly founding member, Biophilic Cities steering committee). Abundant wild nature in the city is good for us! Let’s explore the deep connection between human health and urban biodiversity. Let’s talk about building symbiotic relationships in and for the resilient biophilic city of the future.

12noon to 1pm: Live Mead Making Demonstration Join Sean Benjamin as he explains how easy it can be to make the world’s oldest fermented beverage at home.

1:00pm – 1:30pmHoney Home Brew Event Results Announced – Mike Manning from Colony Meadery shares educational feedback on the entries in the Philly Homebrew Competition. Join us as we listen and learn (click here to see details of how to enter your brews).